Name: Mike Wallace Got Into A Fistfight At the 1968 DNC | David Letterman
Uploaded: 2024-08-21T15:02:34.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Mike Wallace Got Into A Fistfight At the 1968 DNC | David Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2024-08-21. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Mike Wallace Got Into A Fistfight At the 1968 DNC | David Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2024-08-21. Transcript available.

Nice to see you, Mike. Thank you very much for coming.
It's been an interesting week, I guess.
Tell me about your thoughts on the convention,
the Republican Party out there.
I didn't watch it.
You didn't watch it?
I was happy to stay home.
Yeah.
Instead of going out there.
Sure, I would think so.
Hmm?
I would think so.
Why would you think so?
Because it seemed to me like not much of real interest was taking place.
You got it.
Yeah.
Ted Koppel was right.
That's right. Ted Koppel packed up all his stuff and moved out.
And went home.
Yeah.
You know why?
Because he was going in the dumper against you.
Oh, yeah.
No, seriously.
You know, nobody was watching out there,
so he figured he needed to come back east and get some ratings.
Now, when did it happen and why did it happen
that conventions became so much less than what they used to be?
I can remember when I was a kid.
I can remember in 1968 watching you at work
when there was stuff going on.
Oh, you bet your life.
Yeah.
Actually, the first convention I ever covered was 52 in Chicago,
Eisenhower against Adelaide Stevens.
You didn't know who was going to be nominated, first of all.
Right.
Chances are it was going to be Eisenhower,
but there was still some doubt about it.
But there was a kind of excitement and energy,
and there were stories to find out and sources to use.
Today, it simply is not so.
It's all worked out ahead of time by the primaries.
I mean, it's, what has it been, four months since Bob Dole has been nominated?
Back in, I mean, has won the primaries,
and then you knew that he was going to be nominated,
and of course, Bill Clinton, unless he goes to jail,
is going to be the, uh...
Well, now that, now there,
that would liven it up a little bit.
Yeah.
But, but, but why did it happen that now all it is
is reinforcement of some synthetic image?
That's all it is.
Constructing and reinforcement of some load of crap.
Ideologic crap.
That's all it is, Mike.
I couldn't disagree with you more.
You know, all, all the complaining that goes on
among journalists about the fact that there's no story and so forth,
no, there's not much of a story.
Right.
But it is an interesting exercise to tee the,
see the two guys who are going to be the Republican candidates.
And, and they're not doing it to entertain us.
No.
They're doing it to tell the folks out there,
here's, here's who we are.
But I, I'm, I was taken again this time
in looking at this affair,
as I am many, many times.
The people, and nothing against the Republicans,
nothing against Dole and, and Kemp and,
and his wife and all of those folks out there.
Nothing against them.
But it just seems like,
wouldn't it be great if we had somebody
who really, really was a compelling orator
who could stand up and captivate
not only the crowd in the hall,
but the country as well.
And to me, it just seems like those kind of folks
ain't going into politics.
They're hosting talk shows.
Am I right?
Yeah.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
First night of the convention.
It was a fascinating convention.
Nancy Reagan just had you by the throat
that she was, she was so, uh...
It was interesting to see Nancy Reagan.
That's right.
It was.
Yeah, it was interesting.
It was very moving.
And then,
I've never heard a more effective speech
than, uh, Colin Powell gave.
Exactly.
But is he running for anything?
No.
No, that's right.
So, what good is it
if we have an effective speaker
playing golf all day, you know?
He's sitting in the house.
He's being an effective speaker
watering the lawn.
That don't work.
Somebody said, somebody said,
well, not somebody said.
Everybody has said forever
that the last good speaker
was Ronald Reagan.
And there's no doubt about it.
Yeah, well, people really, really liked
that guy, didn't they?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then, you know why?
Because he knew who he was.
You knew who he was.
He knew who he was.
And there was a confidence
built as a result.
We're never quite sure
that Bill Clinton knows who he is.
Yeah.
Well, he's going to jail, you say.
You heard the writer,
Mike Wallace says
Bill Clinton's going to jail.
He said nothing of the sort.
I want to show,
before we go to commercial.
No, no, wait, wait, wait.
All right, fine.
I have you investigating.
Sure, go ahead.
Whatever.
All right.
And I'm not sure
and I'm still not sure
that Bob Dole knows who he is.
Did you notice...
See, I think you're right about that.
I think you're exactly right about that.
Did you notice last night
he would say something
quite moving and quite serious
and look like that.
And then all of a sudden
this painted on puppet-like smile.
Yeah.
It's what Richard Nixon
used to do in the same way.
I mean, it's kind of a phony smile,
an artificial smile
because he's not
genuinely comfortable
in what he's doing.
We're not telling the truth
in Nixon's case.
Maybe, maybe.
I wanted to...
I wanted to show
that the remarkable footage
of you on the 68 convention.
Who are you going to vote for?
I don't know yet.
Honestly, I don't know yet.
Me too.
I don't know yet.
Me too.
Because all I'm really concerned about
is raising the speed limits.
That's really all.
And I haven't heard
nothing about it.
I've heard nothing about it.
So the tape now...
Now...
But, you know,
Clinton's just kind of big and goofy.
You know, he's just kind of big and goofy.
And you think...
You know, you look at Dole
and you think,
here's a guy
who really is a decent, honest man.
He's a decorated war hero
and a decent guy
and a lifelong legislator.
But he's just, you know,
he's not quite...
And Clinton just, you know...
Is there any more waffles?
Except...
Any more eggos?
Hillary, we got any eggos?
Except that I really do believe
that Bill Clinton
is looking somehow
more presidential.
I'll give you that.
In the last couple of years,
he's kind of grown into
being able to present himself
as, here I am,
symbolically the president.
And I think now,
in this day,
that means everything, doesn't it?
When are you going to grow into
Oh, stop it, Mike.
Come on, stop it.
Are we...
Are we...
Oh, now, okay.
I want to show this tape, though,
but we have to do a commercial here.
We'll be right back
with Mike Wallace.
I was talking about the footage,
the videotape, the film,
whatever it is,
of you, Chicago, 1968.
Set the stage for the people
and then we'll take a look
at the film
and talk about it.
1968, Chicago,
middle of Vietnam,
trouble,
and there was...
There was hell to pay
on the streets of Chicago.
I mean, really, really trouble.
This country was coming apart.
That's correct.
Was breaking,
was cracked,
was pulling apart.
That's correct.
And Lyndon Johnson
had just decided
that he was not going to run
once again.
And after a while,
he finally acknowledged
that maybe Hewitt Humphrey
is the guy who was going...
And it was going to be
Humphrey versus Richard Nixon.
And Grant Park,
Lincoln Park,
all over Chicago.
I'm serious.
It was as tough a time
as I can imagine
politically in my lifetime.
Right.
It was frightening.
It was just frightening,
especially for a person like me.
I didn't know
what the hell was going on
and you just...
It could have gone anyway
and you just were scared
all the time.
Right.
And now you're at
Convention Hall in Chicago.
Incidentally,
you realize the first
Democratic convention
in Chicago since 1968
is going to start
taking place next week.
That's where Clinton
goes to jail.
I almost went to jail.
I did.
As a matter of fact...
We have the film here
and I don't know...
Should you tell people
what it is?
It's very famous
at this point,
but tell them
what we're going to see here.
What we're going to see
is the New York delegation,
a fellow by the name
of Alex Rosenberg,
who was a Gene McCarthy
delegate.
And the cops were very,
very careful
about who they let
on the floor
and he didn't have
his proper identification
with him.
And so they were...
They yanked him
off the floor.
And I followed it out
and I said,
what do you mean?
You've seen him.
He's in this delegation.
So you're doing your job
as a reporter.
And they say,
mind your own business.
And I said to the cop,
it is my business.
I mean, this is...
This is the public.
There are no cameras
out here,
but this is my business.
And so what...
What happened was
a fist fight.
Oh, man.
Here we go.
From the floor
of the 1968
Democratic Convention
in Chicago.
Roll it.
There seems to be
some kind of battle
going on over there
by North Carolina.
Yes, there is a battle
going on.
If you can get over there,
we can see it
directly under our booth
here.
They're carrying a man
out bodily.
Who is the man?
I don't know who he is.
Where is the man?
I don't know who he is.
I don't know who he is.
He's a delegate.
He's a member of this delegate.
Who is the man?
Dan, let's let Mike...
Whoa, Mike is just going to
shove down on the floor there.
Mike, get your...
The young man with glasses...
But they sure gave you
a rough shove.
What's that?
Dan Shore.
I'm fine.
Dan?
I'm fine.
As his credentials
drilled into his forehead.
All right.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Wait a minute.
So what happened is
the cop said,
now you get out of here,
Wallace.
This is not...
I said, this is a public place.
He said, I'm not going to...
And so I leaned over
and I said to the commander,
why are you so upset, commander?
Uh-huh.
And he hit me so hard.
Really?
In the chin.
Oh, my God.
I mean, he really did.
Right on the button.
Boom.
And I was so taken aback
and his buddies said to me immediately,
you're under arrest.
And this is the commander.
I think this is the commander
and a plainclothes guy
who were hustling me off the floor.
They take me upstairs
to the pokey,
which is, you know,
a kind of...
We know what the pokey is.
Temporary whatever.
And they weren't going to let me...
I didn't know what they were going to do with me.
And suddenly Mayor Richard Daley showed up.
Everything was scary.
Nothing made sense in those days.
And for years and years,
Mike used this as his Christmas card.
It was very nice.
Very nice.
Mayor Richard Daley
and the president of CBS News
negotiated for my release.
I washed my face
and was back on the floor.
Interesting moment
in American politics and journalism.
And another interesting moment,
Sunday night,
right here on CBS,
President Clinton, I believe,
on 60 Minutes.
He's going to do his take
on the Republican convention
with Dan Rather.
Dan Rather,
who used to be on 60 Minutes
and who's a good pal
of the Clintons,
is going to be talking.
As a matter of fact,
you got any questions
that Dan should put
to Bill Clinton?
Well, you know,
the obvious question
that everybody keeps asking,
we see the guy jogging
10, 15 miles
day after day
after day
after day after day.
Why can't he drop
even a pound?
Mike Wallace,
ladies and gentlemen.
Mike, always a pleasure.
Keep up the good work.
We'll be right back.